Impact is Fed by Outcomes: Part 2 of 3

What are the goals of your programming?  

Outcomes describe the personal change people experience as a result of the services you have offered.  At SEED Impact, we call these our “Like-to-See” results.  They are intermediate results, based on new performance, patterns or habits, tied to your goals.  

Common examples of outcomes are:

1. Students’ reading levels have risen.

2. Parents feel more equipped and empowered to care for their children. 

3. Youth are growing in their creative identity.

You can also look at the outcomes of a group of people such as a cohort or class.   

Outcomes help answer these questions:

1. How well did we do it?

2. Is there a difference in our participants?

Let’s recap. In Part one, we counted how much we have done. This showed us a change in participation. This was about capturing our  “expect-to-see” outputs.  

Next, we asked ourselves how participants or groups actually changed through their experience of our program. What new behaviors were adopted?  These are the next level results we  “like-to-see.”

Outcomes look beyond outputs.  

But let’s not stop here.  There’s more change to capture!

What comes next?  

• Do our programs transform anyone else?  

• Can we see changes that transcend our immediate efforts?

• Are our efforts creating sustainable proof that our approach works?

Impact (with a capital “I”) answers those questions.  Impact is most closely related to your organization’s vision to change the world. Impact achieves long term results.  It demonstrates your ability to affect the greatest systemic challenges we face.  Impact quantifies the return on investment for your funders. Simply put, Impact is proof that your way works. 

At SEED Impact, we ask ourselves, what results would we “love-to-see?”  This points to Impact.   

Impact extends beyond the initial group of people your organization served.  Impact influences the community.    

Impact asks:

1. Is anyone else better off?

2. Is there a difference in our community?

Here are some examples of how Impact may look in your context.

Young girls participate in dance class and learn skills such as confidence, time management and creative expression (outputs and outcomes).  Over time, students  experience higher academic scores, attend college (first in their family) and ultimately begin a career.  Their individual career successes trigger systemic change.  Not only is each life changed, but their families  and future families are also transformed.  This is Impact. 

Families experiencing homelessness receive transitional housing and supportive services and gain personal budget tools, career development coaching and holistic healing (outputs and outcomes). As parents are equipped with what they need to remain housed, children benefit from stable school and supportive relationships, neighborhoods thrive, and local business experience economic boosts.  This is Impact.

Women participate in health education and advocacy training programs.  They  experience empowerment and improved access to the care they need (outputs and outcomes).  Healthier women begin coaching others in their community on safer practices.  They build coalitions to address needs on a larger scale.  Over time, as education and advocacy prevail, community health scores increase.  This is Impact.

And isn’t this the level of results for which we all long?  Isn’t this what propelled us into this work in the first place:  a shared vision for results that keeps us going. 

Yes!  This is why we do what we do.  Not simply to fill a room.  Not even to see a single person changed.  But to see entire families, neighborhoods and systems be transformed!

How are you defining outputs, outcomes and impact in your context?  We’d love to hear from you.  Drop us a note at possibilities@seedimpact.org.

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Sonja Schappert Howden has been a SEED Impact evaluation client for six years and now leads SEEDing Stronger Together in the Tenderloin of San Francisco, as SEED Impact's Chief Impact Officer.